After finishing 18th in the state last year, the men’s swim team is looking to improve upon last year’s season. The Titans are off to a successful start by winning all six of their dual meets.

With five returning state qualifiers, the Titan’s expectations coming into this season were high, according to Jake Nelson, senior captain and state qualifier.

“This senior class is really good,” Nelson said. “[Having multiple state qualifiers] coming back contributes to us bringing back the strength we had last year and adding on with some of the other swimmers.”

The team is led by senior captains Kevin Benson, Seamus Henegan and Nelson and as well as junior John Salomon, sophomore Sam Salganik and standout freshman Sam Iida. Head coach Keith MacDonald is content with the team’s success thus far and believes there are not many flaws withhis unit.

“We’re pretty balanced throughout,” MacDonald said. “We don’t have a lot of weaknesses really. Our distance swimming has been [really] good.”

The Titans are pleased with their season so far and look forward to their conference, sectional and state meets, MacDonald said.

“The end of the season is key for swimming,” MacDonald explained. “We want everyone to have their best times atthe championship meet. We consider ourselves a top 10 team in the state, and that’s where we should finish come the end of the year.”

The Titans dove into their season on Dec. 7 in Wisconsin with a dual meet against Arrowhead High School, one of the top teams in the state of Wisconsin, according to Salomon, a three-year varsity swimmer.

“[Arrowhead] was a big meet for us because it was the first meet of the season,” Salomon said. “It came down to the last relay and we won it. It got the team excited for the season, and it got us started on our good start.”

According to Benson, the biggest meet the team has competed in this season was the Evanston Invite where they placed second out of 18 teams, the best finish the Titans had at the invite since 2006.

“[The Evanston Invite] was coming off of our winter break training, and we always train very hard over winter break, so we were very tired at that meet,” Benson said. “I think everyone was pleasantly surprised with how they performed at that meet despite being very tired. I think the meet served as a general example of how we’re performing well even under stress.”

Even though swimming may be portrayed as an individual sport, Benson stressed the importance of team cohesion and how it has influenced their success.

“We’re all good friends and that means that we can call each other out and be relentless on each other,” Benson said. “The state qualifiers really help lead the team to where it needs to be.”

Salomon also expressed his contentedness with the team’s unity. He credits the winter break training in Indianapolis for enhancing the squad’s chemistry.

“[The trip] is really good for team building because we are around the guys for three days straight,” Salomon said. “It really brings the team together, and it gets you to trust each other.”

The Titans continue into their championship season with conference on Feb. 9, sectionals on Feb.16 and state meets.